Hans Sauter (gymnast)

The stretching was next to the pommel horse, the special discipline of Hans Sauter.

Hans Sauter (born June 6, 1925 in Bregenz / Vorarlberg ; † October 1, 2014 there ) was an Austrian gymnast.

Hans Sauter took part in four Olympic Games, with 43 national championship titles, he leads the ÖFT statistics . At the European Championships in Frankfurt in 1955, he won the bronze medal on the pommel horse.

Career

In 1938, at the age of 13, Hans Sauter joined the Bregenz Vorloster gymnastics club. He was one of the hopeful offspring when he was drafted into military service in the Navy in 1943 and stationed at the Reich War Harbor in Kiel . After the end of the Second World War , he returned to training in 1946 and mastered Austrian gymnastics until 1960. Hans Sauter said of the training conditions at that time: “Technical know-how for learning artistic gymnastics exercises was rare. I mostly taught myself. The gym was mostly unheated in winter, but I still used every free time to improve my skills. ”He won the most important title in the all-around artistic gymnastics in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1959 In addition, there were 35 further national championship titles on the individual devices. In the all-time best list of the ÖFT , Hans Sauter leads with a total of 43 national championship titles, ahead of Thomas Zimmermann with 38 titles.

International placements:

• Olympia 1948 in London : 9th team, 36th pommel horse , 66th twelve fight (6 compulsory and 6 freestyle)
• Olympia 1952 in Helsinki : 6th pommel horse in the field of 200 participants, 11th team, 22nd twelve fight
• Olympia 1956 in Melbourne : 38th rings, 60th twelve-fight
• Olympia 1960 in Rome : 16th team, 79th twelve-way fight
• 1954 World Cup in Rome: 13th team
• European Championship 1955 in Frankfurt: 3rd pommel horse , 14th twelve fight

National coach

Even during his active time, Hans Sauter was active as the Austrian national coach. From 1953 he passed on his knowledge of gymnastics in lectures, courses and advanced training. After the end of his career in 1960 he pushed the beginning of the cadre formation. A young group of talented gymnasts from various clubs trained in the club hall of the Wolfurt Gymnastics Association under the direction of Hans Sauter. In a summary of this coaching activity, Hans Sauter said: “While in the countries of the Eastern Bloc in the 1960s there was already scientific work under the direction of academically trained coaches, our conditions at that time with the training units after work were not sufficient to develop top international gymnasts . What counted more was another effect of this first artistic gymnast squad: Numerous people grew out of the group who were sustainably involved in club and association work. This ensured the further development of Vorarlberg gymnastics. "

Recognition at home and abroad

In the press of the 1950s and 60s, Hans Sauter's achievements were duly recognized. He was described in the Hamburg daily newspaper as a particularly elegant horse gymnast of world class format. He also achieved a high reputation for his modest and exemplary demeanor. The following quote can be found in Gratt et al. (1996, p. 18): "(...) His energy in training, his elegance on the machine, his restraint and modesty made him an exceptional gymnast." The father of two daughters worked as a State employee in Bregenz .

literature

• Otto Gratt (among others): 50 years of Vorarlberg gymnastics, 1946–1996. Anniversary font . Published in April 1996.

Web links

• Association newspaper (PDF; 2.0 MB) of the Vorarlberger Fachverband für Turnen (VTS) with a comprehensive text on Hans Sauter's career (p. 16, 17)
• Hans Sauter's obituary on vol.at